Thursday, March 29, 2012

“What are you training?” asked ex-MLS player/now BB employee Johnny Alcaraz while watching me do 30 reps (each side) of step-up convicts last night, which reminded me that I hadn’t reported on my training in a while and should probably share this phase with the world. Muscular endurance was my answer, which I followed with some details on my particular block that’s also targeting pelvic and scapular stability. “But mainly muscular endurance.”

I’ve explained why you’d want to train muscular endurance in other articles. For a detailed explanation click on the summary below:

That article explains why women might be drawn to training muscular endurance (it ensures you can’t build bulk) but it’s also extremely helpful for almost any athlete except those in complete power sports, and even those will benefit from training this system enough to keep it efficient. Its downside is that gym sessions get long and the workouts hurt.

This time around I’ve put a spin on the Workout From Hell format, essentially supplementing P90X2 movements. Those of you who’ve been following along know that I altered my original round of X2 when I hurt my back (getting tripped running down a mountain). It recovered quickly but I’d already designed a 3 block hangboard cycle (will be published in an article if I like it) and a supporting training that includes a three week block of muscular endurance. Here’s the workout I’m doing 3x a week. You will notice a lot of instability. Next week I transition to PAP.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

I haven’t found any inspiring vids in lately so this week’s Psyche is a training article from UK hardman James McHaffie. Known primarily as a trad climber, McHaffie made sport climbing headlines with an ascent of Big Bang, 9a, a route that had thwarted so many famous climbers that it held a mystical reputation as virtually impossible. What ultimately impressive about this ascent is that Big Bang was two full grades harder than anything McHaffie had climbed previously, which took a boatload of training and, per usual for sport climbing, some inspired dieting. The interview also benefits from the standard English droll wit.

While McHaffie’s approach is only somewhat scientific what’s most interesting about this article is how much sense it make to the average climber. Yes, he did a lot of hard and focused training and lost weight but, unlike some of what you read/see about vision quests, he didn’t embark of some sort of Spartan adventure where it was touch and go as to whether he’d do the route or get so injured he’d never climb again. While those make great tales, not very many of us could mimic Rich Simpson’s training for Action Direct without suffering a serious injury. This plan could be followed by anyone who’s been climbing regularly, though—of course—you’ll need to substitute appropriate grades for own level.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tony’s famous saying “don’t break your face” is an almost perfect analogy for showing the evolution of P90X. Back in the Power 90 days, when our goal was to get people moving and “Just Press Play” was the Beachbody motto, he literally meant that you shouldn’t drop weight on your head. In P90X2, it’s a slogan for staying cool under fire, because the more relaxed your face is the more you can focus energy on your training.

He still jokes about dropping weight but he also talks about face control. It's a hard lesson for many people to get. When we get tired we get tight. We contract. We scream. We hold stress in places, like our face, when that energy would better serve us elsewhere. Calm, relaxed, and focused on nothing but breath and movement is how we perform best, especially under duress. In Power 90, and to some degree P90X, it was enough to simply show up and try. As you’ve become fitter we now want to coax more performance out of your body and need to evolve our techniques. It starts with your face.

In the above photo I’ll be the poster child of poor form. My screaming looks cool and sells magazines but it’s not efficient. “Focus on pulling with your arms instead of your neck,” was my congratulatory note from distinguished climbing/gymnastics coach Rob Candelaria. In contrast check out the other photos of climbers who are contemplating moves at their physical limits with the serenity of a zen monk. The one in the first shot looks about ready to take a nap.

Don’t get me wrong; screaming at the right time is helpful, even important. The old karate “kee-yaw” has a place but it’s calculated. When you lose control the end it near. The goal is to control your body, saving outbursts for when you absolutely need them.

P90X2 forces you to stay calm. Try screaming during Warrior 3 kickbacks and you’ll fall, or least teeter. You’ll handle heavier weight if you’re under control, which is our grand design. By the time to get to the PAP training your form should be so solid that you’ll know when it’s time to use a calculated outburst to your advantage. Calming your face is the first step to getting the most out of your workouts; at least it is once whether or not you actually do the workout is no longer a question.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Another of my mentors has passed away and, once again, there seems to be some serendipity at work. I hadn’t thought about him in many years but, oddly enough, only happened upon the news because the Asylum post (on re-living your youth) got me digging around about basketball practice. Even though I hadn’t thought of Coach Harter in ages I can remember many of the stories recounted in this outstanding article about his life like I’d heard them yesterday. In fact, I can still recite some of his quotes verbatim.

I’m certain most of you have never heard of Dick Harter. He spent most of his life as an assistant coach in the NBA who specialized in defense. But Harter once spent a period of time as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, of whom I was a rabid fan. But it wasn’t because my family was from Oregon, or because my mom went there, but simply because of Harter’s teachings and the way they played basketball. When I became a coach (my first career) I primarily patterned my style after his. I had other influences, including my dad, Bobby Knight, John Wooden, and some of the others coaches I’d played for but Coach Harter was foremost among them. I can still remember how disappointed I was that he left Oregon before I went to college, meaning I’d never have a chance to try and play for him.

At Oregon, Harter’s Kamikaze Kids were a thorn in mighty UCLA’s side. It seemed like every year Wooden’s team of eventually NBA Hall of Famers would have more trouble with the scrappy Ducks than in the NCAA tournament (some years they gave UCLA their only loss and broke their 98-game home winning streak). His teams played with an intensity I’ve rarely seen. His “attack on defense and rest on offense” style was something I always tried to get my teams to mimic. Our goal, I always told my players, was to be the team that everyone hated to play. We might not be the most talented group but we are going to make our opponents miserable. My basketball practices often looked more like football. This came 100% from Coach Harter.

Ron Lee, incidentally, was my favorite player. I had this picture (cut out of a Sports Illustrated) handing on my wall.

I still take life lessons from Harter to this day. I tried to get my teams to bond, become sort a family, and it’s still the type of relationship I try and cultivate, with friends, and colleagues. My old video/climbing store was like a family, so was The Castle/Allez magazine, and so is our Beachbody fitness staff (Denis in fact worked for the video store as an undergrad, where I also met Marcus Elliott). And this was all, in no small part, related to what I learned from Coach Harter.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Sitting here working on the next round of Insanity: Asylum workouts inspired me to post this video for the Friday Psyche. It was made by one of our coaches highlighting the results from a group challenge. It’s pretty amazing what a few psyched individuals can achieve in 30 days.

As an athlete Asylum workouts resonate more than anything else in our line-up for pure fun factor. It’s probably because they’re a lot like sports practice was back in the day. And even though I’m sure I complained about miserably-hard practice like these as much as my teammates, in retrospect it was a rollicking good time.

I always used to describe the P90X/Insanity relationship as X being training for the sport of Insanity. This is doubly true for the X2/Asylum relationship. P90X2 is what you’d do in the deep off-season to change your body and specifically target weaknesses. Asylum is like Hell Week; what you’d do just before the start of the season to bring your fitness to a peak. And as nasty as Hell Week felt at the time in my memory all they conjure up are smiles.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I’ve been a bad blogger lately, which is sad for you because there’s been some great stuff in the news. Hopefully my schedule will clear a bit next week so I can get to the meatier issues. Today I’m going to start with a little appetizer from Harvard; a mass study (43,000) showing that those who drank soda, any soda, were at a 20% higher risk for heart disease than those who didn’t.

While this may sound shocking a little digging shows it’s not, really. The study’s parameters were broad and, basically, only led to the not-so-surprising conclusion that those who ate a healthier diet fared better than those who did not. From ABC News:

Still, it’s another indictment of the sugary drink world (soda, sports drinks, and sugary juices were lumped together, which makes sense since they’re all basically the same) and that’s a good thing. The facts still remain; sugary drinks are the single largest caloric source in the world. And until that stops the obesity epidemic is going to continue to expand.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Those of you on the vitamin D bandwagon should take note of a new study showing that too can lead to increased cardiovascular inflammation. “People should have their D levels tested before taking vitamin D supplements and tested again a few times a year if they stay on them", says Muhammad Amer, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “They should not be ignoring the fact that D is a steroid-like hormone and may be harmful at some level.”

A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology in January has changed this. It looked at 15,000 healthy adults age 18 to 85 and found that, while increasing levels of D in the blood are associated with decreased cardiovascular inflammation to a point, once D levels go beyond that point, inflammatory markers actually begin to rise.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Today’s Psyche presents the definition of “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” This girl is gone. Outta there. Her body is convulsing, her elbows are chicken-winging and her ability to control the holds is shot. It seems unbelievable that her feet can stay on such small holds shaking the way they are. When you’re belaying someone who looks like this you’re well into catch mode. Yet she somehow finds a way to hang on, which is probably why she climbs harder than almost everyone. The fight she shows is some of the most impressive climbing I've ever seen.

You have to wade through a little bit of boring/envy-ness to get there (I want to spend 3 months in Spain) but, hey, it’s a Prana vid and if they’re going to produce stuff this cool you can cut em some slack for a little yoga promo. Plus, yoga is one of the best exercises for (insert almost anything here) so it might not even be staged. Yoga makes us better at physical stuff. Period.

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I'm a human lab rat and head of fitness and nutrition development at Beachbody. If our products don't work you can blame me. When I'm not testing training and nutritional theories on myself I'm studying, writing, climbing, riding, running, racing, exploring, or playing with my wife and the dogs.